Like most serious golfers, Golf Tips editors love to get out there on the road — meaning, of course, airplanes as well — dragging our sticks with us every step of the way. Emphasis on dragging. But now that we’ve finally gotten our hands on the Sun Mountain ClubGlider (which has been around for a few years, but merits a fresh look), we can take that word out of our vocabularies.
This thing ain’t a drag. It’s a one-finger miracle, even when you’ve loaded it up to the razor edge of the 50-pound regular check-in fee maximum.
Instead of pulling that travel bag and precious contents through airport terminals and rental car parking garages, we’re guiding it around as though it’s almost weightless, thanks to ClubGlider’s unique, spring-loaded extendable legs fitted with 360-degree-pivoting caster wheels. This system serves to support all of the bag’s weight and erases the need to bend over and pick it up and get it moving. The slightest pull — even with one finger — puts it in motion again. Sayonara to all that back and shoulder stress. When it’s time to check the clubs, the legs fold back into the hard plastic base with a quick pull.
We put the original Meridian model through its paces on back-to-back trips to Washington state and Montana (home to Sun Mountain’s headquarters) and marveled at ClubGlider’s ease of movement, even in tight spaces including check-in lines. We also saw the bag in use by other traveling golfers — an instant endorsement.
Since the Meridian’s debut, Sun Mountain has added three models – the full-sized Pro, vinyl Tour Series, and slimmed-down Journey – offering protection for golfers ranging from weekend warriors to touring professionals. And, that protection is more robust than ever with the switch to ballistic-style nylon on the Meridian model.
All ClubGlider models include heavy-duty two-way zippers, thick foam padding extending down the travel bag to protect clubheads and shafts, storage pockets, internal cinch straps, reinforced wear areas, and a lift-assist handle. It’s the whole package for the peripatetic player.
$249-$349 | www.sunmountain.com
